The Winter Iowa Games kick off this weekend in Dubuque. Spokesman Cory Kennedy says the action will begin on Saturday morning and they have 23 sports with around 4,500 participants, which would break the old record for athletes by about 300.

It’s the 22nd year for the winter sports festival that Kennedy says has shown tremendous growth over the past two decades. “Dubuque has been a great supporter and they’ve hosted our main weekend every year,” Kennedy says. He says the growth forced them to seek out more venues and now they hold events in 15 communities over 4 weekends.

Kennedy says 13 sports will be contested this weekend at 19 different venues in Dubuque and Kennedy says a number of the sports this weekend will offer on-site registration.